


Almost Reunited

by Zelan



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 12:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15707412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zelan/pseuds/Zelan
Summary: The Doctor finds him, too late.





	Almost Reunited

**Author's Note:**

> hi those two episodes were far too emotional to be legal so I wrote fic to make myself feel better
> 
> (You can read this as any Doctor from Ten onward - I tried to make it in-character for any regeneration.)

It was a chance meeting, a near impossible occurrence. The Doctor could do a lot of things, but he couldn't have orchestrated this meeting if he'd tried. And yet here he was, in the flesh.

"Lee McAvoy?"

The name lights a fuse in the Doctor's mind, a brief flash of recognition that leaves him stumbling in the dark as he searched for its source. He repeats the name aloud as he searches, delving into the so many memories he carries with him.

Lee waits, confused, tries to stutter out a question: "D- D- Do I kn-" but before he can finish the Doctor finally finds what he was looking for.

"Donna!" he bursts out, and Lee's head jerks up sharply, suspicious and hopeful all at once.

"Y- You know D- Donna?"

"Oh, I knew her," the Doctor promises, turning to look Lee in the face. The man meets his gaze steadily; whatever trouble he had speaking, it did not extend to his ability to maintain eye contact.

"She loved you. She loved you so much that she thought you couldn't possibly be real."

"B- B- But she told m- m- m- m-" Frustration overtakes Lee's features as he struggles to speak through his emotions. Still, the Doctor understood.

"She spent so long looking for you in the Library. Even did a search for your name." 

At that, Lee smiles, sadly. "L- Leonard."

The Doctor nods - if only she'd searched McAvoy - but it was too late for that; but it wasn't too late for this.

Gently, he continues. "She told me, after she finally gave up looking: "I made up the perfect man. Gorgeous, adores me, and hardly able to speak a word.""

Lee struggles to hold back tears, even as he continues to look the Doctor in the face.

"You know, I met her on her first wedding day," the Doctor says softly. "She didn't go through with it then. Couldn't bring herself to be tied down. But she wasn't all right for a long time after she lost you."

Lee closes his eyes, letting the tears run down his face. The Doctor offers no comfort; he knows he can give nothing but silent solidarity.

Minutes pass. Eventually Lee draws a hand across his face, wiping away his tears and his grief. He doesn't ask to see Donna. He knows.

He takes a deep breath. "Thank you."

“Of course.”


End file.
